Chapter 1: The Light       

Once upon a time, there lived a baby cheetah whose name was Spot. He was faster than the fastest car. He was 5 years old. While his dad was out hunting, he and his mom were watching the birds fly and they were listening to the birds and trees. Just out of the blue, he asked, “Why aren’t I allowed to go out of our grass field?”  

His mom froze at that question and said, “Because you can’t handle it.” 

“What do you mean, I can’t handle it?” said Spot, bewildered at that answer. His mom didn’t answer.

At that same moment, Spot jumped up and dashed out of the grass field.                                                                                                    

Soon, he could hear his mother calling for him. He ran until he couldn’t hear his mother calling him anymore. But then he saw a light, or he thought so. Then he heard a sound, though also not very clearly.

Chapter 2: The Incident  

It sounded like someone saying, “Do you need help?” And it sounded like he or she was crying.  Before he could react, he saw something that made him freeze. It was his dad right in front of him. He expected his dad to be really upset, but his dad asked him very calmly, “Why are you out here?” When Spot did not reply, his dad told him that he was going to have to explain when they got home.

After that, Spot and his dad did not say anything to each other until they reached home. When they got home, his mother was relieved that Spot was safely home.

Dad had hunted a hyena for all of them to eat. Spot could tell that his mom and dad were not happy with him because it was one quiet dinner. After dinner, Spot was ready to run and check out what he had heard. But he couldn’t go out right then because his mom and dad would catch him. 

So he decided on going at night to find who or what was in the forest. When his mom and dad were asleep, he crept past them and left for the forest. As he went further away from home, he was startled when he heard the noise again. He looked all around, but could not see anything.

Chapter 3: The Map

Spot went into the forest. He couldn’t see any light so he started running faster and further away from home. And then he saw a light in the distance. He got closer and closer and closer and closer.  He was curious and a little scared.

Chapter 4: The Baby                

Then he saw a baby animal who looked just like him. It said, “Who are you?” 

“My name is… Spot, and who are you?”

“Hello, Spot. I am Slash.” 

“Hello! Where do you live, Slash? I have never seen you around here. But why are you crying, Slash?”

“I think the human hunters have captured my parents and taken them away. Have you ever used a map?”

“Um… no. Have you?”

“Yes, well one of the hunters dropped a map and a flashlight so I took them and ran away. Do you want to help me find them?” 

“Yes. Why don’t we go at dawn so we can see better? We can meet at Lucky Coin lake. Do you see it on the map?”

“Yes. It’s getting late now, let’s go home now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

 “Ok,” said Slash.

Chapter 5: The Truth 

Once Spot got home, he went very quietly so as not to be heard by his parents. Then he went right to bed.

Because he was so excited to see Slash at the lake early in the morning.

When he got up, he jumped up, and yelled for his mom to “wake up!” 

“Why are you up so early, Spot?” 

“Well… I met… another… cheetah… cub,” Spot said. 

“What!!!!” said his mother, surprised. “Where does he live?” 

“I don’t know where he lives but we agreed to meet at the Lucky Coin lake. Do you want to come?” Spot asked. 

“Yes! But why are we going there?”

“I will explain when we get there. Ok?” Spot said. 

So they headed to the lake, and there was the legend, Slash! 

“Hi there, Spot,” Slash said. 

“Hi, I want to introduce you to my mom!”

“Hi, there.” 

“Well, is she going to help us with the you-know-what?” Slash whispered to Spot. 

“I don’t know. You want me to tell her?”

“Yeah.”

Spot turned to his mom and said, “Well, ummm… do you want to help us save Slash’s parents?” 

“Wait, what?!!” said his bewildered mom.

“Well, Slash says his mom and dad got captured by human hunters. One of them dropped a map and a flashlight so Slash picked them up and ran away as fast as his little legs could carry him.  Do you want to help?” Spot said. 

His mom froze then said… “Yes!! Of course.” 

“Ok, do you think Dad would like to help, too?”

“Yeah,” said his mom, even though she was not sure of it.

“Ok, let me get Dad. You stay here,” Spot said, then ran home as fast as he could. 

When he got home, he looked all around but could not find his dad anywhere. He wasn’t in the backyard, he wasn’t in the den, and he wasn’t in the grassy field. He had no more time to waste so he ran back as fast as a lightning bolt back to Slash and Mom.  

When he got there, he was out of breath and his heart was pounding. Slash and his mom looked confused.  

“Where is your Dad?!” asked Slash.

“I have no idea, I could not find him anywhere,” said Spot.

Mom then remembered that he was going to go for a hunt to find dinner.  She turned to Slash and said, “Let’s go rescue your parents!”

“Okay, get the map out,” Spot said, trying to rush.  

30 minutes later…                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       “We’re here. Look!” Spot whispered as he poked his head through the bushes and admired the many different animals that were sitting in cages. The cages were connected to each other and sitting in a long line. They looked at each cage, and at the very end of the line, there were the cheetahs. There was a sign on the outside that said, “No touching the cheetahs.” At the front of the cages, there was one guard who was sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair, sharpening his sword.  

Spot turned to Slash and his mom and said, “What’s the plan?”

“Let’s tackle the guard from different directions,” said Slash.

“Good plan,” said Mom.

They began to move in slowly from different directions. Mom whispered over to Spot and Slash, “Remember to be quiet so we don’t wake the others.” As they got closer to the guard, Spot got more and more nervous as he got closer and started sweating.  

They all counted quietly, “Three, two, one, gooo!!” Mom got there first and clawed the guard with her front paw. Pow!!!! The guard took his gun out and held it, sword out, and started swinging it at the three of them. Spot heard Slash scream, “AAHHHH!” Then out of nowhere, they saw a furry blur flying through the air at the guard before he could react and shoot at them.  Boom!!   

“He’s down,” yelled Spot. When he turned around, he noticed that the furry blur was his dad. He was about to explode with questions but he was so happy to see him. 

“Look what I found! It’s the keys!” 

“Wait! How are you here?!?” Spot said.

“I’ll explain later.” 

Slash ran to the last cage. When he saw his parents, he was so excited, he couldn’t hide it.  

“Hi, Mom, hi, Dad!” said Slash as he cried in tears of joy.

“Hi, who are these cheetahs?”

“They are friends.”

“Okay. We’ll talk later and get us out.” 

Chchch!!

 “Okay, now run, run!” 

And that’s the story about Spot and Slash, hoped you liked it! Bye!

To be continued…

Sneak Peek:

“Bye, Slash, see you tomorrow, same place.”

“Okay.”

Then they hugged. They were so happy it was over. 

“Bye!”

And then the cheetahs left. 

“I have something to tell both of you, come on. Well, I work with a company that helps cheetahs. That’s how I found you!!”

Dunt! Dunt! Dunt!  Be sure to check out the next one.